Electrical stimulation and the hot boning of beef

Abstract Beef sides were stimulated immediately after carcass dressing and then hot boned, the primal cuts being transferred to freezing or chilling at 2 h post mortem. Despite rapid freezing (7–10 h) rigor was achieved before the meat temperature had fallen low enough (< 10°c) to induce cold shortening. The meat was as tender as that boned from sides chilled conventionally for 24 h. Alternatively, if the cuts were chilled to 5°3 over a period of 46 h before freezing, shortening was avoided and the meat aged to a highly aceptable and uniform level. Since bacterial growth was limited by the much shorter processing time, the meat was more wholesome than that produced by conventional chilling and aging procedures.